Interview Say Anything singer Max Bemis

  Photo by: Laura Kirsch

Max Bemis is the lead singer of L.A. based punk rock band Say Anything, and has been through line-up changes, his private life on blast and health problems since the band's formation in 2000. The past is behind him and Say Anything has been a steady line-up since 2005, recently released their fourth studio album, and his idea of song shop became a reality. I got to talk with Max last week before the bands Chicago date on the Angels & Airwaves Love tour about the bands new single "Do Better", concert set lists, side projects, and much more.

Say Anything is opening for Angels & Airwaves this spring, which is a departure from their last three years headlining shows,  "It has been really amazing, we have been on tour for almost a month and this is the perfect support tour. It really feels like we are headlining sometimes because so many kids sing along and know who the band is. We are glad to be supporting, not only a bigger band than us which is nice, but a band that is nice and supports our band. We actually work really well as a team," says Max. Angels & Airwaves personally invited Say Anything on the Love tour and fans have been more than welcoming, "Yeah, they have been super receptive. I think that is the reason why we have had such a good tour so far. The crowd, they are going crazy so the people can tell who is learning about us for the first time is reacting really positively," says Max.

Choosing set lists as a supporting act is a different process than the band headlining, "Well it is sort of hard, we have so many songs now. We just try to judge it by our history with the songs and what crowd we are playing in front of and what we feel like we will enjoy playing the most," Max goes on to say, "We find the right songs and lock it in and play it most of the tour. Just because it is hard to find the exact recipe for the perfect set when you are opening for somebody specifically. When you find something that really works you want to stick with it."

Say Anything recently released a single entitled "Do Better" and how well the song does hinges on the bands next move once the Angels & Airwaves tour ends. "It was a song we saw that was connected with a lot of people and to be honest, even when we made the record we knew that would be the one. We knew it was that type of song as soon as we wrote it, even. We have been kind of waiting and we really believed in our first single 'Hate Everyone' and it did really well. We saw it as an introduction to 'Do Better' because 'Do Better' is this really accessible song that sums up our band really well in a nice little package," says Max.

"Do Better" is the second single off Say Anything's self titled album that was released November 2009 and reached #25 on Billboard Top 200 which is the highest ranking for a Say Anything album to date. "It matters in the sense that I was really excited to hear that it did well. It is something where if it didn’t happen we would still have to enjoy the record and that we made a record we were proud of. We were fortune enough that our record has sold alright so far. It is kind of like whatever happens you have to stand by your actions and be proud of them and be proud of your record. When stuff like that happens it is icing on the cake," Max said about his album Say Anything.

Max Bemis not only fronts Say Anything, but also has two side project bands, Two Tongues and Perma which he plans to keep working with. "Yeah, for Perma we have not really gotten a chance to start doing stuff yet. We have written a bunch of songs, but both our bands are super busy. Same thing with Two Tongues, even though we have already put out a record. People have been asking for Two Tongues to go on tour for a really long time, but both of those things will develop when we have the right space and time," says Max. Two Tounges is comprised of Max, Say Anything drummer Colby Linder, Saves the Day lead singer Chris Conley and former Saves the Day guitarist David Soloway. Max goes on to say , "I think in both cases and especially with Perma I don’t want to rush things. I already have a band that sort of arrests my concentrations and it’s a job that can be stressful even though it’s totally rewarding. When you choose to do side projects, you want them to have breathing room and be fun. If I was to force myself to do either one too much when I am busy with the other one, it would be stressful and that defeats the purpose."

Perma consists of Max and his wife Sherri DuPree-Bemis, guitarist and vocalist of the band Eisley. Max had no hesitation working with his wife, "No, we work together great musically. Any time we actually sat down and kind of done it, we had a great time doing it." Both Max and Sherri want to take Perma seriously, "I feel no hesitations about doing it, it is just more so we want to take it really seriously and in a way we don’t want it to be a side project. We want it to be a project that we can do and put our full force into when we have time off. We want to actually put a record out and tour behind it and really push it. We think it is going to be pretty good."

Catch Say Anything at Bamboozle 2010 and on the remainder of the Angels & Airwaves tour. For more on this interview, check out the full transcript here. We talk about Bamboozle, Max's favorite song of his wife's, the Max Bemis song shop and more!